Method of wrapping a floral grouping

ABSTRACT

A method of covering a floral grouping by providing a wrap constructed of a flat sheet of material, the wrap having an opening disposed within the sheet of material, and inserting a portion of the stem end of a floral grouping through the opening in the wrap, and wrapping the wrap about the floral grouping.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No.10/195,767, filed Jul. 11, 2002, now abandoned; which is a continuationof U.S. Ser. No. 10/013,876, filed Dec. 11, 2001, now abandoned; whichis a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 09/532,940, filed Mar. 22, 2000,now abandoned; which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/767,168, filedDec. 16, 1996, now abandoned; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No.08/469,033, filed Jun. 6, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,774; which is acontinuation of U.S. Ser. No. 08/347,611, filed Nov. 30, 1994, now U.S.Pat. No. 5,526,932; which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No.08/165,215, filed Dec. 10, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,943; which is acontinuation of Ser. No. 08/040,330, filed Mar. 30, 1993, now U.S. Pat.No. 5,311,991; which is a division of U.S. Ser. No. 07/906,089, filedJun. 29, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,108.

The specifications of each of the above-referenced U.S. patents andpatent applications is hereby expressly incorporated herein byreference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND

This present invention relates to a wrap for a floral grouping and amethod for wrapping a floral grouping with such wrap and, moreparticularly, but not by way of limitation, to a wrap having an openingtherein and wherein a stem end of the floral grouping is extendedthrough the opening and the wrap then is wrapped about the floralgrouping.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the upper surface of a wrap constructed inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the wrap of FIG. 1, takensubstantially along the line 2-2 of the FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the wrap of FIGS. 1 and 2 showing afloral grouping having the stem end thereof initially inserted through aopening in the wrap.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the wrap of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 showing thewrap formed and wrapped about the floral grouping.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a wrap similar to that shown in FIG.3, except the modified wrap shown in FIG. 5 has adhesive on the oppositesurface of the wrap as compared to the surface of the wrap having theadhesive thereon shown in FIGS. 1 through 4.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of another modified wrap, similar toFIGS. 2 and 5, except the wrap shown in FIG. 6 has adhesive on only aportion of the upper surface thereof.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of still another modified wrap, similarto FIG. 6, but the modified wrap shown in FIG. 7 has adhesive on only aportion of the lower surface thereof.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a wrap constructedexactly like the wrap shown in FIG. 6, except the modified wrap show inFIG. 8 comprises two sheets of material having a draw string laminatedtherebetween.

FIG. 9 is an elevational view of the wrap of FIG. 8 shown wrapped orformed about a floral grouping.

FIG. 10 is an elevational view showing a wrap wrapped about a floralgrouping and secured thereabout by banding element.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the wrap and floral grouping ofFIG. 10 (without a banding element) disposed within a vase.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates to a packaging comprising a wrap 10 (FIGS.1, 2, 3, and 4) for wrapping a floral grouping 12 (FIGS. 3 and 4) havingan upper or bloom end 14 and a stem end 16. The wrap 10 has an uppersurface 18 (FIGS. 1, 2 an 3) and a lower surface 20 (FIGS. 2, 3 and 4).The wrap 10 also has an outer periphery 22 (FIGS. 1-4).

As shown in FIGS. 1-4, the wrap 10 is generally circularly shaped.However, the wrap 10 may be rectangularly shaped or square shaped or anyother geometric shape.

The wrap 10 is constructed of a sheet of material or a plurality ofsheets of material where the sheets of material are laminated to eachother or laid or disposed simply one on top of the other. The wrap 10may be constructed from a variety of materials. The wrap 10 isconstructed from any substantially flat, flexible suitable sheet ofmaterial that is capable of being wrapped about the floral grouping 12.Preferably, the wrap 10 is constructed of treated or untreated paperfoil, synthetic or natural polymeric film, natural or synthetic fabric,burlap, cling material, denim or combinations thereof.

The term synthetic “polymeric film” means a synthetic resin such as apolypropylene as opposed to naturally an occurring resin such ascellophane.

Synthetic polymeric films are relatively strong and not a subject totearing (substantially non-tearable), as might be the case with paper orfoil. Further, a relatively substantially linearly linked processedsynthetic polymeric film is virtually waterproof which may be desirablein many applications such as wrapping a floral grouping.

The sheet of material may be a shape-sustaining material such as foil,cling wrap, or a metalized polymeric film or paper. A shape-sustainingmaterial is one which substantially holds its shape, after being formedinto a particular shape, without additional securing devices orelements.

A decorative pattern, such as a color and/or an embossed pattern, and/orother decorative surface ornamentation may be applied to the uppersurface 18 and/or the lower surface 20 of the wrap 10 or portionsthereof including, but not limited to printed design, coatings, colors,flocking or matellic finishes. The wrap 10 also may be totally orpartially clear or tinted transparent material.

The wrap 10 may be constructed of a single layer of material or aplurality of layers of the same or different types of materials. Anythickness of the wrap 10 may be utilized in accordance with the presentinvention as long as the wrap 10 is wrappable about the floral grouping12 as described herein. Additionally, an insulating material such asbubble film, preferable as one of two layers, can be utilized in orderto provide needed protection for the floral grouping 12. In preferredembodiment, the wrap 10 is constructed from two polypropylene films (a20″×15″ sheet of Mobil 270 ABW white opaque film laminated to a 20″×15″sheet of Mobil 220 AB clear film) having a thickness in a range of fromless than about 1.0 mil to about 30.0 mil, and more preferably to about10.0 mil.

“Floral grouping” as used herein means cut fresh flower, artificialflowers, other fresh and/or artificial plants or other floral materialsand may include other secondary plants and/or ornamentation which add tothe aesthetics of the overall floral grouping 12. The term “floralgrouping” as used herein also is intended to include a single flower orplant.

“Cling Wrap or Material” as used herein means any material which iscapable of connecting to the sheet of material and/or itself uponcontacting engagement during the wrapping process and is wrappable aboutthe floral grouping 12 whereby portions of the cling materialcontactingly engage and connect to other portions of the wrappingmaterial for generally securing the wrap 16 wrapped about at least aportion of the floral goruping 12. This connecting engagement ispreferably temporary in that the wrap 10 may be easily removed withouttearing same, i.e., the cling material “clings” to the wrap 10. Awrapping material which remains securely connected to and about thewrapped item until the wrapping material is torn therefrom.

The cling material is constructed and treated if necessary, frompolyethylene such as Cling Wrap made by Glad®, First Brands Corporation,Danbury, Conn. The thickness of the cling material will, in part, dependupon the thickness of the sheet of material utilized, i.e., generally,the thicker and therefore heavier sheet of material may require athicker and therefore stronger cling material. The cling material willrange in thickness from less than about 0.2 mil to about 10 mil, andpreferably less than about 0.5 mil to about 2.5 mil and most preferablyfrom less than about 0.6 mil to about 2 mil. However, any thickness ofcling material may be utilized in accordance with the present inventionwhich permits the cling material to function as described herein.

An opening 24 (FIGS. 1-4) is formed through a portion of the wrap 10.Preferably, the opening 24 is formed through a central portion of thewrap 10. The opening 24 intersects the upper and lower surfaces 18 and20 of the wrap 10 and is spaced a distance from the outer periphery 22.The opening 24 may be a slot rather than a circular hole.

A bonding material 26 which may be an adhesive or cohesive material maybe applied to the a portion of the upper surface 18 of the wrap 10. Asshown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the bonding material 26 may be appliedsubstantially to the entire upper surface 18 of the wrap 10. The bondingmaterial 26 can be applied to the wrap 10 in strips or spots and maycover only a portion of the upper and/or lower surfaces 18 and 20. Thethickness of the bonding material 26 is exaggerated in FIGS. 1-3 forillustration purposes.

In operation, the stem end 16 (having a plurality of stems 17) of thefloral grouping 12 is inserted through the opening 24 to a positionwherein a portion of the plurality of stems 17 of the stem end 16extends through the opening 24 and a distance beyond the lower surface20 of the wrap 18. The wrap 10 then is formed about the floral grouping12 with the upper surface 18 of the wrap 10 being disposed near thefloral grouping 12 and the wrap 10 encompassing a substantial portion ofthe floral grouping 12 while a portion of the plurality of stems 17 ofthe stem end 16 of the floral grouping 12 remains extended through theopening 24, as shown in FIG. 4. In one preferred form, the wrap 10 willsubstantially encompass the upper or bloom end 14 of the floral grouping12, although the upper or bloom end 14 is shown in FIG. 4 extended abovethe wrap 10 for illustration purposes. It should be noted, that, in someapplication, the upper or bloom end 14 of the floral grouping 12 mayextend upwardly beyond the wrap 10, as shown in FIG. 4.

Preferably, the wrap 10 is tightly folded or wrapped about a portion ofthe stem end 16 of the floral grouping 12 and portions of the wrap 10with the bonding material 26 thereon are brought into contact and bondedwith other portions of the wrap 10 having the bonding material 26thereon for cooperating to secure the wrap 10 tightly wrapped about thestem end 16 of the floral grouping 12. Further, as the wrap 10 is formedabout the upper or bloom end 14 of the floral grouping 12, portions ofthe wrap 10 having the bonding material 26 thereon are brought intocontact and bonded with adjacent portions of the wrap 10 with thebonding material thereon to form bonded overlapping folds 28 to securethe wrap 10 loosely wrapped about the upper or bloom end 14 of thefloral grouping 12. Portions of the bonding material 26 may also arebrought into contact to and bonded with portions of the stem end 16 ofthe floral grouping 12 thereby bonding the wrap 10 to the floralgrouping 12 generally about a portion of the stem end 16 for securingthe wrap 10 to the floral grouping 12 and for substantially preventingthe floral grouping 12 from sliding or moving within or out of the wrap10. The overlapping folds 28 are formed by portions of the wrap 10overlapping each other and adjacent portions of the wrap 10 with thebonding material 26 thereon may be bonded together forming bondedoverlapping and adjacent portions.

Embodiment of FIG. 5

Shown in FIG. 5 is a modified wrap 10 a which is constructed generallylike the wrap 10 shown in FIGS. 1-4 and described in detail before,having an upper surface 18 a, an outer periphery 22 a, and an opening 24a, except a bonding material 26 a may be disposed on a lower surface 20a of the wrap 10 a. The wrap 10 a is wrapped about the floral groupingin a manner exactly like that described before with respect to the wrap10, except the bonding material 26 a will not bond to the stem end 16 ofthe floral grouping 12. Rather, overlapping folds like the overlappingfolds 28 are formed in the wrap 10 a generally about the stem end 16 andthe overlapping folds cooperate to secure the wrap 10 a tightly wrappedabout the stem end 16.

Embodiment of FIG. 6

Shown in FIG. 6 is a wrap 10 b which is constructed generally like thewrap 10 shown in FIGS. 1-4, having an upper surface 18 b and a lowersurface 20 b, except a bonding material 26 b on the upper surface 18 bof the modified wrap 10 b is disposed adjacent an opening 24 b with thebonding material 26 b extending a distance from the opening 24 b. Thewrap 10 b is wrapped about the floral grouping in a manner exactly likethat described before with respect to the wrap 10 with the bondingmaterial 26 b cooperating to tightly secure the wrap 10 b about the stemend 16 of the floral grouping 12, except the overlapping folds formed inthe wrap 10 b extending generally about the upper or bloom end 14 of thefloral grouping 12 are not bonded since the bonding material 26 b doesnot extend to an outer periphery 22 b. The bonding material 26 b extendsonly from the opening 24 b a distance outwardly toward the outerperiphery 22 b and is spaced an intermediate distance from the outerperiphery 22 b.

Embodiment of FIG. 7

Shown in FIG. 7 is a wrap 10 c constructed generally like the wrap 10 bshown in FIG. 6 having an upper surface 18 c, an outer periphery 22 c,and an opening 24 c, except a bonding material 26 c is disposed on alower surface 20 c of the wrap 10 c.

Embodiment of FIGS. 8-11

Shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is another modified wrap 10 d, the wrap 10 dbeing only partially shown in FIG. 8. The wrap 10 d is constructedgenerally like the wrap 10 b (FIG. 6 or the wrap 10 c (FIG. 7) having anupper surface 18 d, and a lower surface 20 d and an opening 24 d, exceptthe wrap 10 d specifically comprises two sheets of material 30 and 32(FIG. 8) laminated together with a space 34 being formed between the twosheets of material 30 and 32 near and spaced a distance from an outerperiphery 22 d of the wrap 10 d and with a banding element 36 extendingthrough the space 34 between the two sheets of material 30 and 32 andwith the opposite ends of the banding element 36 extending outwardlythrough openings 38 and 40 in the wrap 10 d, as shown in FIG. 9.

In this embodiment, the wrap 10 d may be tightly wrapped about the stemend 16 and secured thereto via a bonding material (not shown) in amanner generally like that described before to form bonded overlappingfolds 28 d. The wrap 10 d may loosely secured about the upper or bloomend 14 of the floral grouping 12 by pulling the banding element 36 andthen securing the banding element 36 after the wrap 10 d has beenloosely gathered and secured abut the upper or bloom end 14 of thefloral grouping 12.

In FIGS. 8 and 9 the banding element 36 is shown as a drawstringattached to the wrap 10 d. However, as shown in FIG. 10 a bandingelement 36 a may alternatively be a broad or narrow band, a ribbon, adrawstring, a string, a wire, an elastic band, or any other similardevice which is disposed about the wrap 10 formed about a portion of thefloral grouping 12.

The term “banding element” when used herein may also include ties,wires, labels, rubber bands, elastic bands, non-rubber and non-elasticbands, ribbons, springs, clips, twist ties, strings, twines, tapes(including single or double-sided adhesive tapes), staples, collars,plastic strips or tubes, dead fold materials, resilient or stretchymaterials, shrink materials, heat shrink materials, chemicallyshrinkable materials, cold seal materials, sonic sealable materials,vibratory sealable materials, heat sealing lacquers, hot melt materials,welded materials, chemical welding materials, magnetic materials,mechanical or barb-type fastening materials or clamps, curl materials,springs, cling films, or combinations thereof.

The stem end 16 of the floral grouping 12 extends through an opening 24e in a wrap 10 e. The banding element 36 a may be attached to the wrap10 e or may be separate from the wrap 10 e and secured thereto onlyafter the wrap 10 e has been formed about the floral grouping 12. Thebanding element 36 a may alternatively be a piece of heat shrinkmaterial, well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, to whichheat may be applied to cause the banding element 36 a to be shrunk aboutthe wrap 10 e thus causing the wrap 10 e to be secured about the floralgrouping 12. The banding element 36 a may be any device capable of beingplaced about the wrap 10 e to hold the wrap 10 e about the floralgrouping 12. Further, more than one banding element 36 a may be disposedabout the wrap 10 e.

Shown in FIG. 11 is the wrap 10 e which has been wrapped about thefloral grouping 12 as shown in FIG. 10 except that instead of disposingthe banding element 36 a about the wrap 10 e to hold the wrap 10 e aboutthe floral grouping 12, the floral grouping 12 and a lower portion 54 ofthe wrap 10 e disposed thereabout are disposed into an interior space 46of a vase 44. The vase 44 has an upper end 48 and a lower end 50.

An upper portion 52 of the wrap 10 e extends above the upper end 48 ofthe vase 44 and serves as a decorative wrap about the floral grouping12. The stem end 16 of the floral grouping 12 preferably but notnecessarily extends below the opening 24 e of the wrap 10 e into theinterior space 46 of the vase 44. Water 56 or other growing medium mayalso be disposed within the interior space 46.

Changes may be made in the construction in the operation of the variouscomponents, elements and assemblies of the wrap described herein andchanges may be made in the steps or the sequence of steps of the methodsdescribed herein without departing from the spirit and the scope of theinvention as defined in the following claims.

1. A method of wrapping a floral grouping, comprising: providing afloral grouping having an upper end and having a stem end having aplurality of stems; providing a wrap comprising a flat sheet ofmaterial, the wrap having an upper surface, a lower surface, an outerperiphery and an opening in the wrap spaced a distance inwardly from theouter periphery; inserting the stem end of the floral grouping into theopening in the wrap wherein the plurality of stems in the stem end ofthe floral grouping extend a distance from the lower surface of thewrap; forming the wrap about the floral grouping to encompass at least aportion of the upper end of the floral grouping wherein a plurality ofoverlapping folds are formed in the wrap, and wherein the plurality ofstems of the stem end of the floral grouping remain extended a distancefrom the opening of the wrap; and securing the wrap about the floralgrouping by disposing a banding element about a portion of the wrap,wherein the banding element is selected from the group consisting ofties, wires, labels, rubber bands, elastic bands, non-rubber bands,non-elastic bands, ribbons, springs, clips, twist ties, strings, twines,tapes, staples, collars, plastic strips, plastic tubes, dead foldmaterials, resilient or stretchy materials, shrink materials, heatshrink materials, chemically shrinkable materials, cold seal materials,sonic sealable materials, vibratory sealable materials, heat sealinglacquers, hot melt materials, welded materials, chemical weldingmaterials, magnetic materials, mechanical or barb-type fasteningmaterials or clamps, curl materials, springs, cling films, andcombinations thereof.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the wrap istightly formed about the stem end of the floral grouping.
 3. The methodof claim 1 wherein the wrap is loosely formed about the upper end of thefloral grouping.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the opening ispositioned in a substantially central portion of the wrap.
 5. The methodof claim 1 wherein the flat sheet of material used to construct the wrapis constructed of material selected from the group consisting of treatedor untreated paper, foil, synthetic or natural polymeric films, naturalor synthetic fabric, burlap, denim, cling material, a shape-sustainingmaterial, or combinations thereof.